PM’s immigration numbers justified

This year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has welcomed 300,000 new immigrants to Canada, and plans to increase this number even further in future years. Is this a good idea?

Canada’s population is aging quickly, and immigrants are its only way to keep enough people working in order to support those who cannot. Immigrants also pay taxes, which helps fund government activities. As well, their skill sets would be quite useful here in Canada, where we can’t seem to find enough people with certain work skills (ex. doctor, engineer, etc.)

There are certainly many pros, but are there really any cons?

Maybe immigrants increase the crime rate, since they come from less developed countries where crime rates are generally higher? According to the Canadian Council of Refugees, it is statistically proven that immigrants commit less crime on average than the average non-immigrant.

Do they take away jobs from Canadian-born citizens? Not at all. Many immigrants eventually start companies in Canada, creating, instead of occupying, jobs.

The idea of letting immigrants in is failing to produce cons. However, is Trudeau being too ambitious with his numbers? After all, 300,000 is a lot.

But the fact that Canada’s population is aging justifies this number.

If we don’t start taking immigrants in right now, it will be too late in the future. The workforce needs to be ready to cope with the amount of workers who will eventually retire and that amount is simply a lot.

For these reasons, Trudeau is justified in letting these amounts of immigrants in — about 1 million over the next three years, or nearly three per cent of Canada’s current population, as this could be Canada’s only way to survive with the population rapidly aging and the continually decreasing fertility rates.

Ben Guan, Windsor